I am managing payments.
Upon handles the checks, paperwork and payment stages that make a new supplier too risky and too costly to work with.
Your company pays nothing.
See how Upon works for companiesWork safely with anyone in Europe.
The specialist in Lisbon, the studio in Kraków, the consultant you met last week. You can start working with any of them tomorrow.
Upon verifies who they are, prepares the invoice and holds the money until you approve the work.
Companies pay nothing.
Early access for companies and suppliers.
BS
Supplier invoice
Brand Studio Ltd.
Invoice total, held by Stripe
€6,000
Initial deliveryApproved for payment
€1,500Paid
Second deliveryWaiting for company approval
€2,000Ready for approval
Final deliveryFunds remain held
€2,500Funded
Held and released by Stripe
Upon never touches the funds.
Supplier verified
KYC / KYB complete.
Companies pay nothing
Every supplier is verified
Tax residency certificate on file for company suppliers
Payments handled by Stripe
Choose your side
Simple workflow, built for both sides.
I am delivering work.
Your new client funds the full invoice before you begin. You are paid as each agreed stage is approved.
Your fee is shown upfront and never exceeds €199.
See how Upon works for suppliers
The problem
Finding the right supplier is easier than paying them.
Your team finds exactly who it wants to work with. Then finance has to verify the supplier, chase the right documents, check the invoice and decide whether one engagement is worth onboarding a whole new vendor.
All that time, and the risk of fraud never really goes away. So companies fall back on the suppliers they already know.
01
Trust: The company does not want to pay upfront for work it has not received, and the supplier does not want to work for a client that may never pay.
02
Verification: The company needs to know exactly who it is paying before any money moves.
03
Tax administration: The company needs an invoice from the supplier, verified VAT information and, for company suppliers, a tax residency certificate, all before the work can start.
04
Vendor onboarding: Finance may not want to go through the friction of onboarding a vendor for one €2,000 invoice.
Upon puts each new supplier through the same process so the company can only focus on whether they are right for the work.
How it works
Fund once. Release as the work is delivered.
The agreement, the checks, the invoice, the funding and the approvals, all in one process from start to finish.
1
The work is agreed
You describe what you need. Your supplier turns it into a plan: what they will deliver, in one to four stages, and what they need from you to start.
Upon compiles it into a short summary and you approve it.
2
Upon completes the checks
The supplier completes identity verification before any money moves.
Upon checks the supplier’s declared VAT registration, collects a tax residency certificate where the supplier is a company, and prepares the invoice in the supplier’s name.
3
The company funds the invoice
The company funds the full invoice by bank transfer through Stripe before work begins.
The supplier can see the money is there before starting the work.
4
The company approves each payment
When the company approves a stage, the corresponding payment is released to the supplier. The rest stays safely held until the next stage is approved.
The agreement, invoice, approvals and payments stay together in the engagement record.
The agreement
Neither of you has to write it.
You know what you need. Your supplier knows how the work is done. You each answer a few short questions about your half, and Upon writes the agreement.
You describe what you want
A few short questions, answered in your own words: what the work is for, who it is for, when you need it and who signs it off. No brief to write, no template to fill in.
Your supplier sets the plan
They decide how the work divides into stages, what arrives at each one, and what they need from you before they can start. You are paying for their expertise. This is where it shows.
You approve a short summary
What arrives, when, what each stage releases and what you need to provide. Two minutes to read, then yes.
Some details cannot be agreed in advance.
Nobody can decide upfront what a good logo looks like. So the agreement fixes what can be counted instead: how many concepts, how many rounds of changes, how much input you give at each one. You know exactly what you are buying before the work starts.
For companies
Use the supplier your team chose.
Upon removes the work and the risks that usually come with engaging a supplier for the first time.
The supplier is verified, the documents are collected, the invoice is prepared, and the payment is split into stages that your company approves.
Your company pays nothing.
The diligence is done for you
The supplier completes identity verification before any money moves.
Upon checks the supplier’s declared VAT registration and, for company suppliers, keeps their tax residency certificate with the engagement record.
Release payment after you approve the work
The full invoice is funded before work begins, but each payment is released only when the agreed stage is delivered and you approve it.
The supplier knows the money is there. You never pay for work you have not received.
Each stage has an agreed review window. If it passes without a response, the payment releases.
Use the same process for every supplier
Each engagement follows the same steps, from the agreement and the supplier’s documents to the invoice, funding, approvals and payment history.
Finance receives the same record whether it is the supplier’s first invoice or their fiftieth.
Your supplier list should not limit what your company can do.
The right supplier may be in another city or another country. They may be a consultant, a studio, an agency or a company your team discovered last week.
Upon does not find suppliers for you. It makes working with the suppliers you have already found as safe as working with those you have known for years.
Request early access as a company
For suppliers
Know the money is there before you start.
You agree the work and payment stages directly with your client. The client funds the full invoice before you begin, and you receive payment as each stage is approved.
Your fee is fixed, shown upfront and never more than €199. A marketplace takes 10 to 30% just to introduce you.
See that the invoice has been funded
Your new client funds the full amount before work begins.
You can see the money is held and ready for release before you start delivering.
Get paid as the work progresses
You can divide the invoice into up to four payments and agree with your client what must be delivered for each one.
The moment the client approves a stage, the payment is on its way.
If the client does not respond within the agreed window, the payment releases anyway.
Keep your client and your invoice
Upon does not introduce you to the client or employ you for the engagement.
You contract with the company directly, and the invoice is issued in your name. Upon just makes sure the money is there.
Get paid exactly how you want.
Choose your location to see local payout options, all securely routed through Stripe.
Protection for both sides
Upon never touches your money.
Stripe receives, holds and releases every payment.
Upon gives the company and supplier a place to agree the work, confirm that the invoice has been funded and approve each payment.
stripe
Each payment is released as the agreed stage is delivered and approved. The supplier can see that the full invoice has been paid in before work begins.
The money remains within Stripe’s payment infrastructure throughout the engagement, moving only as both sides agreed.
Every supplier is verified: The supplier completes identity verification before any money moves.
The full invoice is funded: The supplier can see that the company has already paid the full amount before work begins.
Releases follow the agreement: Each payment is released when the agreed stage is delivered and approved.
The full record stays together: The agreement, invoice, funding confirmation, approvals and payments stay in one place, ready whenever finance asks.
Pricing
A fraction of marketplace fees.
Companies use Upon for free.
Suppliers pay one fixed fee between €15 and €199, on invoices from €200 to €20,000. Splitting the invoice into up to four releases costs nothing extra.
No subscriptions, no percentage commissions.
Marketplaces charge 10 to 30% to make the introductions. Upon is for companies and suppliers who have already found each other, so you keep far more of what you earn.
Fee capped at €199, however large the invoice.
€0for companies, forever
EUR
€-your Upon fee
The engagement record
Finance gets the whole record in one place.
No more chasing approval emails, supplier documents and invoices across inboxes.
Everything from the agreement to the final payment lives in one continuous record, from the moment the engagement starts.
01The agreed plan and what each stage delivers
02Identity verification status
03Verified declared VAT status
04The supplier’s tax residency certificate (company suppliers)
05The invoice from the supplier
06Confirmation that the invoice has been funded
07The agreed payment stages
08Time-stamped approvals
09Payment history
10An exportable record for finance and accounting
First access
Request early access.
Be among the first companies and suppliers to work together across Europe on Upon.
FAQ
Questions about using Upon.
Here is what companies and suppliers need to know before starting an engagement.
What is Upon?
Upon makes it safe and simple to work with a supplier you have never used before.
It handles the agreement, the identity checks, the supplier documents, the invoice, the funding and the staged payments, and keeps the whole engagement on record.
Upon never lists jobs or introduces anyone.
Who can use Upon?
Any company that wants to pay a supplier, and any supplier who passes verification.
A supplier can be an individual, a studio, an agency, a consultancy or a registered company.
Does the company fund the full invoice before work begins?
Yes.
The full amount is paid into a secure hold through Stripe before work begins, and the supplier can see it is there.
It is then released in one to four stages as the agreed work is delivered and approved.
How does the company fund the invoice?
By bank transfer, free of charge.
Who decides the payment stages?
You do.
The company and supplier agree the work, the deliverables and the stages between themselves. Upon records the agreement, holds the money and releases each payment as the stages are approved.
Who writes the agreement?
Upon does.
You answer a few short questions about what you want. Your supplier sets out what they will deliver, in how many stages, and what they need from you to start. Upon writes the agreement from both sets of answers, and you approve a short summary before any money moves.
How many payments can an invoice have?
One to four.
The fee stays the same however you split it.
What invoice amounts does Upon support?
From €200 to €20,000.
Who pays the Upon fee?
The supplier.
One fixed fee between €15 and €199, set by the invoice amount. The company pays nothing.
How can a supplier see the exact fee?
Enter the invoice total into the calculator above.
The exact fee is always shown before the engagement is confirmed.
Why does the supplier pay?
Because the supplier gets the certainty: the full invoice is paid into the hold before any work starts.
The fee is fixed and never more than €199. A marketplace takes 10 to 30% just for the introduction.
Where is the money held?
With Stripe, which receives, holds and releases every payment.
Upon never touches your money.
When is the supplier paid?
As soon as the company approves the stage.
How quickly it lands depends on the supplier’s country, currency and payout method.
What if a stage is not approved?
The company raises a specific objection against what was agreed, and both sides have a set period to settle it between themselves.
If they cannot, Upon reviews the agreement and what was delivered and makes a decision: the payment goes to the supplier, returns to the company, or is split. The decision is about whether the agreed work arrived, never about whether anyone liked it.
What if the client goes quiet?
The payment releases automatically once the agreed review window passes.
A client cannot hold a supplier’s money by ignoring them.
What records does the company receive?
Everything.
The agreement, the verification status, the VAT information, the tax residency certificate (for company suppliers), the invoice, the funding confirmation, the approvals and the payment history.
All of it exportable for finance and accounting.
Whose name appears on the invoice?
The supplier’s.
Upon never replaces the supplier with an intermediary.
The supplier stays on the invoice.
Does Upon verify VAT registration?
Yes.
If the supplier declares a VAT registration, Upon verifies it and shows it on the invoice. If they are not registered, the invoice correctly shows none.
Upon records the facts; it does not give tax advice.
Is a tax residency certificate included?
For company suppliers, yes.
Upon collects it and keeps it on file with the engagement. Individual suppliers provide their tax status instead.
Does Upon provide tax advice?
No.
Upon verifies and documents. The company and supplier remain responsible for their own tax affairs.
Is Upon a marketplace?
No.
Upon never finds suppliers or introduces anyone. It is for companies and suppliers who have already found each other and want a safe way to start.
Does Upon employ the supplier?
No.
The contract is directly between the company and the supplier. The supplier keeps the client and stays on the invoice.
Is Upon insurance?
No.
Verification shows the company exactly who it is paying. The funded invoice shows the supplier the money is there. Staged releases mean payment follows delivery.
Upon never judges whether work is good. Where a stage is disputed, the only question is whether what was agreed arrived.
Do suppliers need to be VAT registered?
No.
Registered or not, Upon shows the declared, verified status on the invoice.
Which countries and currencies are supported?
Upon is built for working across Europe.
The launch countries, currencies and payout methods will be published before early access opens.
For companies and suppliers
Request early access
Work safely with anyone in Europe.
Upon handles the checks, paperwork and payment process that make it safe to start working with a new supplier.